Baked Beans With Ground Beef
This quick and easy baked beans with ground beef recipe offers a rich, scratch-made tomato sauce – no ketchup needed. These BBQ baked beans with hamburger meat might just be your new favorite hearty, protein-packed side dish for breakfast, brunch, or lunch.
I stopped buying canned baked beans a while ago when I figured out that making them yourself is a can of beans and a well-spiced tomato sauce away. You only need 10 minutes of hands-on prep and a few spices to make these flavorsome beef baked beans at home. Trust me, you won’t go back to the jammy canned stuff!
Plus, hamburger baked beans are an easy and budget-friendly way to add extra protein to your meals and make a versatile high-protein side. The scratch-made BBQ sauce keeps the sugar content in check but this recipe can easily be adjusted to suit your ideal sweetness level. This recipe is medium-sweet!
Serve these beefed-up baked beans with Turkish eggs and my cottage cheese flatbread for brunch or breakfast or over rice as a quick and budget-friendly dinner.
If you loved this Baked Beans With Ground Beef Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating below. Thank you!
Baked Beans With Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes optional
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups tomato purée passata
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 15 oz cannellini beans including brine, unseasoned
- 15 oz black beans drained, unseasoned
Instructions
- In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, diced onion, and spices. Brown the beef for 2-3 minutes, breaking it up with a spatula or large spoon.1 tbsp olive oil, 1 lb ground beef, 1 small onion, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp smoked paprika powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar. Add the cannellini including the brine and the drained black beans. Mix to fully combine.2 garlic cloves, 2 cups tomato purée, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 15 oz cannellini beans, 15 oz black beans
- Bring the bean hamburger sauce to a boil and reduce it to a simmer. Slow-cook it for 20 minutes, stirring it occasionally to ensure no meat or beans stick to the bottom of the pan or pot.
- Season to taste and serve as part of a savory breakfast over eggs, bacon, and hash browns. Garnish with fresh parsley if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredients and substitutions
- Beans – I chose classic cannellini beans but also black beans for some extra color and variety. You can substitute them with any cooked beans of your choice.
- Beef – I use lean ground beef with a fat percentage of about 5-10% but fattier mixes would work too. You may want to drain off any excess fat when browning the meat.
- Tomato – Plain tomato purée, aka passata, works best but you can use diced, crushed tomatoes, or even fire roasted tomatoes as well and purée them before using. You’re after a silky sauce consistency wise to bind the beef and beans together.
- Seasonings – Cumin and smoked paprika create a rich and smoky base for the BBQ-inspired baked beans with beef. Worcestershire sauce adds some umami flavors and extra richness. Salt and ground black pepper round out the flavors.
- Sugar – The brown sugar molasses give the sauce it’s rich flavor but you can substitute it with the same amount of raw coconut sugar or 2 tbsp of white sugar if needed. Maple or agave syrup make delicious natural sweeteners too.
Step-by-step: baked beans with ground beef
1. Add the ground beef to a pan or skillet on medium-high heat alongside olive oil, onion, garlic, and spices.
2. Break up the ground meat and cook until it’s browned up evenly.
3. Add the puréed tomatoes (passata), brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine.
4. Cook the ground beef baked beans for 20 minutes on low to combine the flavors nicely.
My top 5 beefy baked beans tips
- Adjust sugar to taste: Half the amount of brown sugar for a tomato-forward flavor and add more for an even sweeter taste.
- Mix up the beans: Add your favorite type of beans to this dish such as pinto and kidney beans.
- Add veggies: Bell peppers and corn make great additions to these cowboy-style baked beans.
- Spice it up: Add jalapeños, chili powder or more red pepper flakes to spice up the dish further.
- Meal prep: Make a double batch and enjoy this hearty high-protein side with a variety of your meals throughout the week as the beef baked beans store well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.